With young hands and science as the seed, AGROSAVIA writes a new chapter for plantain in Putumayo

• AGROSAVIA not only brought knowledge but also listened, learned, and helped build bridges of knowledge.

Puerto Asís, Putumayo. August 12, 2025. Amid the mist of the mountains that caress the Andes and the warm breath of the Amazon, Putumayo unfolds its lush vegetation like a living parchment. In this place, where rivers tell stories and farmers work the land with dedication, plantain emerges in all its splendor, serving as an essential food for the communities. Into these remote corners of deep Colombia, Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria – AGROSAVIA, has arrived like a creative response driven by the National Rural Youth Strategy, in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Plantains' versatility, as it is capable of growing in diverse soils and withstanding adverse climates, makes it synonymous with resilience. However, its true potential only blossoms if we sow knowledge in the new generations of the countryside, training them to master each cultivation stage and ensure harvests that feed their communities. In this context, AGROSAVIA carried out transformative sessions in Puerto Asís, San Miguel, and Puerto Guzmán, bringing together producers, students, and organizations such as ACAPREDP and ASOPLAMG to weave networks of knowledge.

The event combined technical visits, such as the visit to the Kiwñas Cxhab–AGROPAL indigenous reserve, guided by the Ecological Rural Educational Institution El Cuembí, and practical workshops with the Rural Educational Institutions El Sábalo and Nueva Granada, in San Miguel and Puerto Asís, respectively. Participants explored everything, from the characteristics of elite mother plants to maximize productivity, to the rapid multiplication technique for plantain seeds with quality standards, and integrated pest management.

For local organizations, the workshop was a crucial step in building technical capacities, focusing on the production of resilient seeds. Meanwhile, the technical visits to the Kiwñas Cxhab–AGROPAL indigenous reserve became a dialogue of knowledge, where seed multiplication tunnels emerged as a key tool for obtaining plant material free of pests and diseases, with quality attributes.

In rural classrooms, young people not only learned about phytosanitary control and sustainable production; they also planted the foundations of their pedagogical projects, linking staple crop cultivation to the food security of their communities.

It was a gathering of diverse voices: producers with calloused hands, students with green dreams, and organizations, such as ACAPREDP and ASOPLAMG, participants in the National Plantain Seed Plan. All united in the same furrow: learning to grow. In this corner of Colombia, where the jungle and sweat shape the landscape, AGROSAVIA not only brought knowledge but also listened, learned, and helped build bridges. Because here, development is not just a goal—it is a collective harvest already taking root.

Investing in quality seeds is not an expense but a smart strategy that lays the foundation for successful crops and high productivity. As experts rightly say, "Without a good seed, there is no successful harvest." In a world facing growing food and environmental challenges, the seed stands as the first—and perhaps the most important—link in the chain from field to table.

For AGROSAVIA, this initiative is not just a workshop: it is the seed of tomorrow, where plantain remains synonymous with life, but now with roots strengthened by science and education.